Table of Contents

Biographical Note

William Richardson was born on March 17, 1919, the second son of Orville and
Leila Richardson. Shortly after William was born, his father died in the flu
epidemic of that same year. Sometime before 1936, Leila Richardson then married
Orville Little. In 1937, William Richardson graduated from Newark High School,
and in 1941 he received a B.A. from the University of Delaware where he was
a member of ROTC.

In 1941, William Richardson entered into active military duty with the army
as a first lieutenant. He was stationed at Fort Miles, Delaware; Fort Monroe,
Virginia; and in New York until September 1942. At that time, he was transferred
to England and then, until 1943, was stationed in North Africa and Sicily during
the invasions of those areas. Through the course of his service with the military,
he corresponded almost daily with his mother, friends, and family back in Newark.
The bulk of this collection consists of these letters sent between 1941 and
1943. Richardson returned to the United States in December 1943 and was placed
on inactive duty in March 1944. He died only four years later in 1948.

Source:

Note: Biographical information is derived from correspondence in the collection.

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists mainly of correspondence circulating between William
Richardson and his mother, brother, step-father, friends and other relatives
while he was serving in the military in World War II. Also included are photographs,
telegrams, postcards, realia from the war, newspaper clippings, articles and
pamphlets. Material in the collection is perhaps most important for its firsthand
account of significant events and places of World War II. Because the bulk dates
of the collection span 1941 to 1943, the material corresponds with the mobilization
of American troops towards Europe and the invasions of North Africa, Sicily,
and Italy. Richardson's letters elucidate the feelings, fears, anxieties, loneliness
and excitement of an enlisted man and those of his loved ones. In volume alone,
this collection of letters attests to the importance Americans attached to correspondence
during the war.

The collection is arranged into three series. Series I consists of correspondence
exchanged between William Richardson, his family and friends. Many of these
letters contain notations made by Richardson's mother in 1985 when the collection
was donated to Special Collections. Series II consists of photographs, some
taken by Richardson while in North Africa and a 1933 photo of Leila Richardson
Little, his mother. Series III contains an array of realia from the lines and
the homefront during the war, including leave passes, pay data cards, certificates,
booklets, newspapers clippings, a window service card and a "dog tag."